THE WALL OF FACES

As a member of the Womens Army Corps, stationed at Ft. McClellan, AL, I joined with a group from my platoon on a trip to the Post Service Club. Upon my arrival, I met a young soldier from my hometown of Vidalia, GA,who recognized me and I, him. Although I can't recall his name, he told me there was someone there I should meet. You could have knocked me over with a feather! It was Sammy...we had a splendid conversation, and the we wished each other our very best, then said "farewell." Later on when I was stationed in Ft. Huachuca, AZ, I read the Casualty List and saw his name. Tears came quickly because I knew that Vidalia and its citizens had lost a remarkable young man whose life was cut too short.

I remember the shock of hearing that Sammy was dead. My mother was his high school math teacher, and when I was 5 and 6, no one captured my attention more than Sammy.

He taught me how to swim and he gave me two German Shepherd puppies. He was also a member of the Vidalia High School football team and a lifeguard at the City Pool.

He was a great friend to an impressionable you boy of 5 and 6. I didn't see him much after he graduated, He went to Auburn and then on to Vietnam.

And all of a sudden, I heard of his passing. I was 12 at the time. I still think of Sammy, even though I'm 60 years old as of last month. He was not only a friend but a hero, and I remember him that way.

Distinguished Service Cross

Awarded for actions during the Vietnam War

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Second Lieutenant (Infantry) Sam Harris Galloway (ASN: 0-5346771), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 2d Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Second Lieutenant Galloway distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 31 January 1968 while leading the First Platoon of Company A on a search and destroy mission in the village of Dong Loch, Bien Hoa Province, Republic of Vietnam. Intelligence had indicated that a large, well-equipped enemy force had established heavily fortified positions in and around the village of Dong Loch, dangerously threatening the United States Forces complex at Bien Hoa. Lieutenant Galloway's company was moving on line to sweep through the village when the First Platoon, the lead element of the friendly force, was subjected to intense, raking small arms and automatic weapons fire from the village. Lieutenant Galloway immediately brought his platoon on line and commenced returning fire. He personally exposed himself to the withering fusillade to direct his men, marking targets with a rocket launcher and with machine gun fire. As the battle raged, several men in the platoon were hit and unable to protect themselves. Lieutenant Galloway moved forward and about the battlefield, disregarding personal danger, pulling and carrying wounded men to positions of relative safety, treating those who required immediate life-saving attention. While evacuating these threatened comrades Lieutenant Galloway himself was wounded but refused evacuation, remaining with his men. As the battle grew in intensity, the field commander directed a limited withdrawal to permit the delivery of an airstrike on the enemy. Lieutenant Galloway, with total disregard for his own safety, moved from position to position alerting his men to the order. As the men pulled back, two were wounded by the accelerating rate of enemy fire. Lieutenant Galloway stayed with them, encouraging their movement to safety and personally providing protective fire and acting as a covering shield for the wounded men. It was during this selfless act, manifesting the greatest degree of loyalty for his men and extraordinary gallantry in close combat with the enemy, that Lieutenant Galloway was struck down. Lieutenant Galloway's exceptional display of gallantry and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
General Orders: Headquarters, U.S. Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 7 (March 8, 1974)

Action Date: 31-Jan-68

Service: Army

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Company: Company A

Battalion: 2d Battalion

Regiment: 506th Infantry Regiment

Division: 101st Airborne Division

Dear 2LT Sam Harris Galloway, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir

Curt Carter

Aside from his accomplishments in school and on the gridiron, Sammy was a delightful and loving son to his parents, Jane and Big Sam, and a role model to the smaller children who lived in our neighborhood. The Galloway family lived on Fourth Street in Vidalia from the 1950's until Jane's death in 1994, and their backyard adjoined our yard facing Durden Street. I remember the countless times I saw Sammy surrounded by a retinue of younger kids, in either our yard or our neighbor's, teaching them how to bat, throw a ball, shoot baskets, ride a bike, roller skate, and a favorite activity, climbing trees. Sammy taught most of the kids in the neighborhood how to swim at the City Pool located just a few blocks away, and on Halloween, he would escort the smaller kids from house to house, and take a car load to the Carnival. Sammy may have been an only child, but he was a 'big brother' to many kids in the neighborhood. He was a hard worker and was always willing to earn money to help his parents with expenses. He mowed grass, washed cars, painted houses, and ran errands for many of the elderly residents nearby, often doing shopping at the Piggly Wiggly, where he worked in high school, for those who could not go themselves. His parents did a wonderful job raising Sammy to be the fine young man he became. At his funeral, hundreds of locals and many soldiers attended his burial at Pinecrest. Jane knew she was to be presented with the flag from his coffin, but she wanted Sammy to have a flag of his own. The night before, several neighborhood friends rolled out a sheet of burlap, and we hand-sowed red, white and blue-dyed carnations to form a flag which Jane draped over his casket just before it was lowered. A dozen or so soldiers spent the following week at the Galloway house, sleeping on Jane's sofas and in Sammy's room and at neighboring houses, and Jane fed and cared for each of them as though they were her own. For the next 25 years, soldiers who had served with Sammy would drop by Jane's house several times a year to visit and take her out to dinner. Sammy was one of the finest young men I have ever known, and obviously made as emotional a connection to the men with whom he served, as he did on the families who had the pleasure of knowing him as he grew up.